The Body Swap (completed)

CHP15

"That's probably her asshole of a boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend."Alex told Luke.

"How'd you know?"

"My hunch." She shrugged as she slurped her third smoothie. "Luke, I need you to go and comfort her."

"What? No! Can't you go?"

"First off, I'm in your body. Secondly, they went in the girl's bathroom. I can't go in there."

Luke sighed. "You're right." He stood up. "But before I go what are their names?"

"Nicole is the one who excused herself and Isabelle is the one who followed her."

"Right. I better go then."He started walking away and soon vanished into the direction where Isabelle and Nicole went.

Alex sat patiently, waiting for their return.

Luke hesitantly entered the bathroom with his eyes closed. After counting to 5, he opened them . Sobs were heard in the last cubicle. Isabelle had her back on the cubicle door.

"Nicole can you please come out of there?"

No response. Just sobs.

"Honey can you please just come out of there?" Her phone rang and she cursed when she saw the person calling. She picked it up.

"I'm just gonna take this call okay?"Isabelle  passed by Luke but before she left, she instructed him to  comfort  her.

Luke proceeded to knock on the cubicle door. "Go away!"

"Nicole are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."Came her response.

"Well alright then. I'll be going now." He walked towards the exit of the bathroom.

"Alex, you should know by now that if a girl says that she's okay it's actually the complete opposite!"

Luke stopped walking and turned back.

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"Make me feel better!"

"Darling, how exactly am I going to do that when you won't let me in?"There was silence inside the cubicle. A click was heard on the door before it creaked open. She looked like a mess.

"Hey."Luke started.

"Hi."

"What did that bastard do this time?"

Her jaw tightened. "It's not about him. Mom is at the hospital....she's been in an accident."

"Then what are you crying here for? Go and see her."

"I'm scared Alex. Scared to see her in pain. Scared to see her lifeless."

"Don't talk like that. She's not dead okay? Look at me, look at me."Luke held her chin softly and made her look directly at his eyes. "At some point in our lives, pain will never leave. But that doesn't mean we should lose hope immediately. Now, your mom is at the hospital lying in bed probably looking for you. Waiting for you.. You've got to go see her okay?"

Nicole calmed down. Something about Alex's voice made her calm.

She laughed. "Alex is that really you?"

"Yeah. Still me. Now get up and go." Luke wiped a tear from her cheek.

"You're right." Nicole stood up. She got out of the cubicle just as Isabelle entered the bathroom. "You are coming with me."She told her, grabbing her arm and pulling her out.

Luke returned to where Alex was seated. He took a seat, let out a deep breath and looked at Alex. He was about to tell her all about him but she was making a weird face at him. It was as if almost she was about to cry.

"What's with the face? You're making me look weird."

"Luke.... I need to take a piss."she cried. Alex wanted to laugh at his reaction but was afraid that if she did, urine would flow out of control. "What came in your mind and you drank all that smoothie? Hold it in!"

"I can't."

"Just stop thinking about it then."

"I'll try."

Luke stood back up and got the bags. "Come on, let's go before you piss your own pants."

"Technically it's not my pants."

"Let's go"

Alex stood up and followed Luke who was already walking away. He looked over to Alex. She was making baby steps.

"What are you doing?"

"Hey! You're not the one feeling the urge okay."She complained. He watched as she made baby steps to the exit of the mall. Everybody was watching with him. Some were gossiping about it. It's not something  people see everyday.

Alex stopped just by the fountain outside. She faced Luke. "I can't hold it any longer. I must take a piss now or I'll explode."

Luke read her mind like an open book. "Oh no. You are not doing what I think you intend to do."

"There is no other way!"She put one of her foot in.

"Alex no!"Luke dropped all the bags he was carrying and raced her to it. He jumped in the fountain to stop her but to no luck, he slipped and got wet all over.

"Luke what are you doing?! People are watching."

"They'll be more interested if I let you do what you want to do."

"I must okay?!" She sat down, just in time for a bullet to almost hit her. It hit the sculpture flowing out water in the middle of the fountain. If she hadn't sat down , her brains would be all over the place for sure.

There was another bullet and it shot directly Luke's left shoulder. The bullet passed through the skin and continued to damage the sculpture right behind him.It wasn't his body but he felt the pain. If the bullet went three inches lower, then it would be critical for him.

Alex was shocked, it scared the urine out of her. People around started running in panic. Luke held his wound and got out of the fountain.

"Alex we need to get out of here now!" He screamed. She complied and the two ran as fast as they can, leaving the shopped items.

Luke was looking around, finding the place where the shooters could be. He didn't see anything. They quickly ran down the street. Alex spotted the etrance of a subway and notified Luke about it. They were out of breath but both knew that if they even thought of stopping, they'd be dead before they knew it.

As fast as possible, they rushed to the entrance of the subway. Another shot was fired near them. And another. Each shot almost hitting them. An inch away from shooting any part of their body.

Successfully, they reached the entrance and they ran down the flight of stairs. Luke was on the lead, Alex following just behind him.

It was crowded down at the subway which was an advantage for them. They ran until their legs couldn't run any longer.

There was an unused bathroom there. Alex knew because she and Sean used to make out there. She locked the door of the bathroom and put her back against the door. Panting. Tired.

They took the time to catch their breaths. Alex slided down until her bum hit the dirty floor. Luke rested his back on the wall, holding his wound all the while trying calm down.

His eyes wandered around. There were writings on the walls  cockroaches lurking about and plastic litter, cigarette butts all over the place. There were also shards of glass.It looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years.

An awful stench was also lingering in the bathroom. It was a mixture of the smell of piss, crap and something he just couldn't identify.

"Luke are you alright?"Alex asked, her breath stabilizing.

"No but I'm not dead."

"You do know that's still my body right?"She joked but Luke , without a doubt could clearly see the fear in her eyes.